


Tomorrow's Joy

by Butterfly



Series: Diamondback [6]
Category: due South
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2004-06-03
Updated: 2004-06-03
Packaged: 2017-10-17 13:33:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 594
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/177359
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Butterfly/pseuds/Butterfly
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Victoria knows when the game is up.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Tomorrow's Joy

Right, she'd definitely panicked there. If the cop, the Ray Vecchio who wasn't, if he'd recognized her, if he knew what she looked like, he wouldn't have let her go.

On the other hand, she couldn't take any chances when it came to Ben.

She parked in her driveway, spraying gravel. No time, no time now. She had to get Ben out of here. Get them out of here. Because even if the cop hadn't figured it out yet, sooner or later he would. There wasn't a chance in the world that he was here to take in the scenery. He wanted Ben back. Of course he did, of course he would.

"Well, Detective, I'm still using him," she said, propping the screen door and the inner door open when she went inside. No time to pack, because she didn't know how long it would take to get Ben to the car. It'd been over a month since he'd gotten out of bed. She'd been taking care of him, but a month without standing up was still a month without standing up.

She went over to him and gently shook his shoulder, then looked him over with an analytical eye. He'd gotten thinner, but that couldn't be helped. It would make moving him easier. "Ben, you need to wake up. We have to leave." She ran a hand down his body, biting her lip when she realized that she could too easily feel the bones of his ribcage. She hadn't been paying enough attention, that was the problem. No, no...

"You've been fighting me," she told Ben, entwining her fingers with his. "You have to stop. You have to come with me."

She pulled and Ben's eyes opened, first dizzy with sleep, then focusing with a blazing intensity. "Non, Victoria, je n'irai pas. Ray -- j'attends."

 _Ray_. But was he talking about the Ray she'd met years ago or the man who was here now, who he'd called Ray back when she'd been watching him? "English, Ben."

But the sharpness in his eyes was fading, his words blurring together once more. "Non, j'attendrai. Mon ami viendra pour moi."

Victoria choked back a scream and tugged harder on Ben's hand. He relaxed, going nearly limp, and his eyes were so black, just a rim of blue showing.

No, that couldn't be right. His pupils should be constricted. If they were dilated, that meant... what did that mean?

She had to get him out of there. She slid her hand under him, trying to lift him and he rolled over, their routine taking over. It'd been working, she'd been keeping him safe and clean and hers, so hers. It had been working.

"No, Ben, you need to get _up_ ," she told him, wincing when her voice cracked. "Please, Ben." It would be harder to move him now, why was he making this so hard?

She heard a sound and flinched, half-turning towards the open door. She wavered, her gaze flickering between Ben and the doorway.

No time.

She could... plan again. Come back for him. She could always come back for him.

Victoria smiled and ran a hand over Ben's back, his skin hot under her fingers.

"I'll find you again, Ben. I promise." After one last caress, she got up from the bed and then headed toward the door. She could just buy anything she needed, but she had to get out of here before that cop realized who she was and started asking questions.

She was half-way to the jeep when she heard the growl.


End file.
